Located along the axis running from the fauces through the atrium and on into the garden, the tablinum constituted a sort of office or headquarters for the dominus. Here, he received his clients during the morning salutatio, backlit by the garden and lit from above the the compluvium (shades of The Godfather). The dominus was also able to command much of the house visually from his panoptic vantage point in the tablinum, looking forward into the atrium, and back into the garden--a visual authority to match the social authority of the paterfamilias. As a more static space for reception, the tablinum often includes central paintings in its third and fourth style schemes.
This room was designed and decorated by David Fredrick, using central panel paintings scanned and manipulated by Evin Demirel.
